I took delivery on 23 April 2004 and my # is 22353. I notice Saldous (who took delivery on 19 June 2004) has #16805.

The :?: is: Is the number any indication of when the vehicle was manufactured (i.e. was my car assembled after Saldous's)?

If so, the next :?: is: Can you tell when your vehicle was built as I am becoming concerned that my vehicle may have been built in 2003 and could have some of the 1st gear problems?

 

I think my car was also built last year. I was surprised when I saw the last 5 digits of the vin number myself. I have the auto so don't need to worry about the 1st gear problem though. I too would also like to know the exact build date but don't know how to find this out apart from contacting a dealer I suppose.

They have probably been sitting in an airfield or warehouse somewhere in the country waiting to be sold for some time.

 

Mine has popped out of first gear twice now towards the end of a long journey. I will be contacting my dealer to see if it was built last year, and if the 1st gear problem needs to be fixed.

Makes you wonder why we have to wait so long for delivery. I got my Voyager in 5 days straight off the production line & boat from Austria.

 

Most cars have the build date printed on the door jam along with the recommended tire pressure and loading capacity. If I remember correctly its on the driver's side door jam of the crossfire. With a # in the 20k's I'd say it was probably built around March/April 04.

 

Found it. Yes, my car was built in December 2003.

 

Have checked and mine was built in Feb 04. Feeling a lot happier, as I was beginning to think it had been sat around for months. Am wondering why it popped out of first as problem supposedly fixed at end of 2003.

 

There is something funny with the tranny/clutch, in this car, I think. I had the 1st gear issue. Had a whole new tranny put in (before the "easier" fix was pushed out to the dealers) back in October/November.

But, I have still had it pop out, ohhh.... 2 or 3 times since (maybe 4). But, these seems to be from not comming to a complete stop and dropping it in first.

First really should only be to get the car moving from a complete stop. If you are rolling at all, I recommend just launching in 2nd.

That said, I have never experienced this before, in any other car I've owned, and there have been nine sticks (not to mention friends and relatives cars I've borrowed from time to time). Bad clutch release for Stall out, sure. Not have the shifter fully engaged and grind at bit at the stop, yeah. But never, move along like everything is fine, then BANG... reving in Neutral... I'm surprised this hasn't killed anyone yet.

Have I lead a sheltered life (Every stick I can think of before this I've driven was GM, with the exception of the 53 Willie that I learned a clutch on), or is this a Crossfire specific problem?

 

Since it hasn't happened in the last 1000 miles, I'm going to treat the popping out of first gear as if the car is just helping me get into second, and hope it doesn't happen again.

 

I've never really understood all the concern over the pop out of first gear issue.
Obviously that shouldn't happen, but really, does your hand ever come off the gear shift **** between first and second? I've had my manual since April, and it seems so natural to keep your hand on the gear shift until you shift to second gear at around 20MPH.

That would obviously correct the popping out of gear problem.............




6sp graphite # 16515

 

Karrick,

You're right, I keep my hand on the **** now. More concerned about it starting to do in on other gears. Probably just nervous that she ain't absolutely perfect.

 

where do you find the exact build date for your car? is written somewhere? or is it indicative from the VIN? just curious to see how long this car was sitting around and if thats why my dealership was so ready to deal on it.

 

Look on the door pillar after you open the door. In the UK the sticker is on the drivers side, not sure about US ones. The sticker shows a build date.

 

There is a tag on your driver's door jamb that gives you the month and year it was built.

Also - FYI - there is no such thing as an '04 Limited. In 2004, they only made 1 model. :wink:

 

Maybe that means you were 'Limited' to only one model. :lol: